MG Rover owner Phoenix Venture Holdings vice-chairman Nick Stephenson was reported yesterday to be flying to China for further talks with prospective partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.

Reports in China this week suggested officials of the state-owned SAIC had been embarrassed by MG Rover’s bullish comments last weekend on the near-certainty of an imminent conclusion of joint venture arrangements. The joint venture has yet to be approved by the Chinese government.

MG Rover insisted to the Birmingham Evening Post yesterday that Stephenson's trip to Shanghai was not being made in response to SAIC’s comments and insisted the deal was not in jeopardy.

Ward added SAIC had 165 executives dedicated to working on the joint venture and MG Rover engineers were in Shanghai discussing technical details.